Theresa May ahead of Leadsom in Conservative leadership race

A new YouGov/Times poll of party members shows Theresa May has a clear lead over her rivals and dominates all head to head matchups

Theresa May is the first choice candidate for the majority of Conservative Party members in the first poll of members since the line-up of candidates was confirmed. 54% of members now back her, up from 36% last week, when Boris Johnson and a range of other possible candidates were included in the poll. Her closest rival is Andrea Leadsom on 20%, followed by Michael Gove (9%), Stephen Crabb (5%) and Liam Fox (5%).

Andrea Leadsom also comes closest to beating Theresa May in run-offs of potential “final-two” matchups, but still trails Theresa May by 63%-31%. May beats all other candidates by a margin of 50 points or more.

Conservative MPs begin the process of narrowing down the candidates today, with the two candidates with the highest support amongst MPs put to the wider party membership.

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